I'll Be Your Hero
by HeMoIsBoss
Summary: It wasn't supposed to happen to her. Her life had been slowly spiralling out of control, but it was never have meant to have gone this far. Her head was pounding. The room was spinning. The pristine white walls blinded her mocha brown eyes. She wanted to cry. She wanted to shout. She wanted to scream. For the first time in her life, Santana Lopez was absolutely terrified.
1. Chapter 1

She had read about it in magazines and newspapers. She had heard the horrific stories from her mother and father. She had watched a countless number of television programmes about it at night when she was feeling lonely in her apartment. She just never thought that it was going to happen to her. It wasn't supposed to happen to her. Her life had been slowly spiralling out of control, but it was never have meant to have gone this far. Her head was pounding. The room was spinning. The pristine white walls blinded her mocha brown eyes. She wanted to cry. She wanted to shout. She wanted to scream.

For the first time in her life, Santana Lopez was absolutely terrified.

She doesn't remember much about last night, only that she was at the bar on her own. Quinn, Puck and Sam usually went with her but they were all supposed to be working the next morning so they decided to stay in. Quinn had warned her not to go out on her own, but Santana never listened. She told Quinn to stop acting like her mother and then hung up on her. She remembers entering the bar already a little bit tipsy from the pre-drinks that she had drank back in her apartment. She hadn't drunk that much, just the last three bottles of beer that lay in her empty refrigerator.

She just wanted to have a good time and relax. She wanted to forget about all of the stress for a little while. She wanted a break.

The hours that she spent at the bar are a blur in her mind. She doesn't remember how much she had to drink, or how both men and women approached her to buy her drinks, which she happily accepted before telling them she wasn't interested in them. However, she does remember getting angry when the bartender told her that it was closing time. She remembers pushing herself off the barstool and having to grab onto the counter in an attempt to steady herself. She remembers staggering through the streets of Los Angeles and how with every step she took, her already blurred vision gradually became darker and darker until she could barely see anything at all. She remembers the sound of her blood rushing to her ears. She remembers how her heart felt as if it was going to pound out of her chest at any given second as she pulled her phone out of her purse and dialled Quinn's number. She remembers screaming down the phone for help...

She can't remember anything after that. Her memory goes blank.

Santana screws her eyes tightly shut to block out the thoughts that are invading her mind. She doesn't want to relive it. She wants to forget about it all. She was stupid and made a big mistake that she now has to live with. Exhaling deeply through her nose, Santana tries to concentrate on the noises around her. Although she finds that difficult because the machine that she's hooked up to won't stop beeping. If she had the strength to move, then she'd force it to be quiet, but she doesn't even know what it's for so decides just to put up with it instead.

The door to her room opens and Santana hears two sets of footsteps approaching. Thinking that it's just a couple of nurses to get the machine to stop beeping, she doesn't bother to open her eyes and acknowledge them. She knows how nurses work, as soon as they know she's awake, they'll bombard her with questions and poke and prod at her until she leaves. They'll also probably give her a lecture about being reckless and irresponsible, but she hears them from Quinn and Rachel all of the time so she doubts they could tell her anything new.

"It seems as if everything is fine, she just needs to rest." Someone speaks, interrupting the silence, and Santana takes an instant dislike to them. Their voice sounds scratchy and irritable and she thinks that she'd rather listen to someone drag their nails down a chalkboard than listen to the nurse speak. "Her doctor should be here soon, you may sit with her and wait."

If it weren't for the fact that she was pretending to be asleep, Santana would have her eyes open in an instant to see who else is in the room with her. She doesn't have any family in Los Angeles and she's sure that everyone in her small group of friends that she does have are all working this morning. She hears the door close again and then her attention turns to focus on the footsteps of the stranger in the room. They're getting closer and she feels her heart rate begin to pick back up. She doesn't know why she's panicking.

"You can stop pretending now, the nurse is gone Santana."

Santana doesn't think she's ever been so relieved to hear the voice of her best friend, Quinn Fabray. When she opens her eyes, she finds Quinn sitting in the chair next to her bed. The usual sparkle in her round hazel eyes are gone and are instead replaced by heavy dark bags under her eyelids. Santana knows that her mistake is what caused this. Her drinking habits have not just affected her this time.

She wants to ask Quinn what the hell happened and what's currently going on, but she can't get the words out of her mouth. They're trapped. More importantly, Santana wants to apologise to Quinn for dragging her through this mess wit her, but those words are also trapped. She feels completely drained, her body is too tired to do anything.

It's not often that Santana feels bad about what she has done to other people, but right now she feels terrible. If her best friend looks like she hasn't slept for days, she doesn't even want to imagine how Puck must be looking and feeling right now. He's always had a soft spot for her, they're like brother and sister. She's sure that Kurt and Rachel are worried about her too and she's certain that once she's back home, she'll receive a lecture from both of them about how irresponsible she was. Oddly enough, she's kind of looking forward to it. Her thoughts drift towards her last 'friend', Sam. She likes to use the term 'friend' loosely around him because they don't particularly get along. She's pretty sure he doesn't care about her accident. He doesn't care about a lot of things. Now that she thinks about it, she doesn't even know why he's living with Kurt and Rachel. She blames the pair of them for being too nice and letting him stay.

"You blacked out, split your head open, and had to get your stomach pumped." Quinn states, her voice wavering slightly. "What the hell were you thinking, Santana? Were you even thinking at all?" She adds when she realises that the woman lying in the hospital bed isn't going to say anything.

The fact that Quinn isn't shouting at her makes everything worse, in Santana's opinion. If Quinn had shouted at her and called her irresponsible and immature then she would have pretended as if it was like any other night she had gotten a little too drunk and had to face the wrath of Quinn the following morning. This time isn't like any other time though, because she's not just woken up in her own bed with a killer hangover. This time, it's serious. She's lying in hospital with stitches in her head and her stomach pumped. She can't just pretend as if everything is okay.

"You called me during the middle of the night screaming for help!" Quinn continues, and this time Santana can see the tears silently running down her cheeks. She's never seen Quinn cry before. It's something they have never done in front of each other, and it makes her heart ache. "I had no idea where you were, Santana! Puck and I had to come out looking for you without knowing where to search! You're lucky that Puck knew the route to your favourite bar! Do you know what could have happened if we never found you? You could have..." Quinn trails off as she swallows the lump in her throat. She can't bring herself to finish her sentence, but the look of fear on Santana's face tells her that the Latina is thinking exactly the same.

Santana could have died.

"I know that you never meant for it to get this far." Quinn sniffs, bringing her hand up to wipe the tears away from her eyes. "None of us thought it was going to get this far. We all thought that it was just some kind of rough patch that you'd eventually get through on your own. We never thought that you would end up here, in hospital."

Santana takes a moment to let Quinn's words sink in. She never thought that it would get to this point either. She had always been able to handle her drink, even from a young age. She never expected to be lying in a hospital bed because of her drinking habits. Her life was a mess. She was a mess. Everything was a mess, and it was all of her fault. How could she have been so careless?

Santana's thoughts are interrupted when the door opens once again. She guesses that the man standing there must be the doctor as he's wearing a white coat, has a clipboard under his arm, and is already making his way over to read her chart that's hanging on the bottom of her bed. He reminds her of her own father. She knows that he would have a heart attack if he saw her like this and she silently prays that none of her friends have called her parents yet. She does planning on telling them about the incident at some point. She just doesn't want them finding out over the phone by one of her friends. It wouldn't be fair on them.

She forces herself to focus on the situation at hand and watches as the doctor scribbles down a few notes. She has no idea what's going on right now, and she doesn't really care. She just wants to go home and sleep the day away. She has a feeling Quinn won't let her, but she's going to try anyway. She'd rather be sleeping than forcing herself to think about what has happened. If she could, she would block it out of her mind completely.

"Well Santana, everything seems to be looking good so far." The doctor eventually speaks as he places the chart back down. He doesn't sound as grumpy as the nurse did, but there's just something about him that makes Santana dislike him. She thinks it's because he sounds, and looks, so happy. "If the stitches in your head look fine then we can let you go."

The thought of actually going home is both terrifying and appealing to Santana. On one hand it gives her the opportunity to relax in an environment she's used to, but on the other, she knows that it's where her demons are lurking. She doesn't want them to take over her life once again.

Santana remains frozen in place as the doctor begins to inspect her head wound. If this had been in any other circumstance, she probably would have bit the doctor's arm off for getting so close unexpectedly, but she's caused enough trouble so she decides against it. She's pretty sure Quinn would murder her if she caused any more drama. She doesn't want to push it.

"Everything seems to be healing nicely." The doctor concludes as he takes a few steps back, and Santana feels like she can breathe again. "Your head is going to hurt for the next few days, so make sure you remember to take pain relief. I'll get the nurse to come and discharge you."

The doctor exits the room before she can even say anything, but she doesn't care. She still can't find her voice so it's not like she could have asked him something anyway. She glances over at Quinn and notices that she is reading some kind of pamphlet. Santana wonders where she got it from, but her question is quickly answered when she looks over to the bedside table and sees multiple leaflets all to do with having a drinking problem. She knows that she should probably follow Quinn's lead and picks one up to read, but she just can't bring herself to do it. She doesn't want to admit she's got a problem. It scares her.

It doesn't take long to be discharged from the hospital and before Santana can fully comprehend what is actually happening, she finds herself sitting in the passenger's seat of Quinn's car. The radio isn't on like it usually is during car rides with Quinn, and Santana takes this as a sign that her best friend wants to talk about what has happened. She doesn't want to upset the blonde more so than she already has, but she decides to just bite the bullet and go for it. They're going to have this conversation at some point, whether they like it or not.

"I'm sorry." Santana breaks the silence, surprising herself at just how hoarse her voice sounds. She's aware that 'sorry' doesn't make up for what she's done, but she doesn't know what else to say. If she could go back in time then she wouldn't have even of gone to the bar on her own. "I didn't think it was going to be this bad. I didn't even think I had that much to drink when I was at the bar, but then when I started to walk home I knew that something was wrong. I-I panicked Quinn, and I called you because I had nobody else."

Quinn sighs heavily and takes her eyes off the road for a second so that she can look at the broken Latina that is sitting next to her. For the ten years that she has been friends with Santana, she has never seen her look this terrified before and the sight makes her heart break. She wants to comfort her and tell her that everything is going to be okay, but she can't promise that. Not yet anyway. Her best friend's life is in pieces and she needs to help her put them back together, even though she is extremely angry at Santana for putting her through the toughest and most stressful twelve hours of her life.

"Santana, I know you didn't mean it." Quinn replies softly, her voice just above a whisper. "Yes, you were reckless and irresponsible, but I know that you would never have done something like this on purpose." She pauses and takes a deep breath, thinking about what she wants to say next. "I could hear how scared you were on the phone. I can't get your terrified screams out of my head. It's like they're haunting me for not being with you that night."

The car journey plunges back into silence, but neither woman seems to mind. Quinn keeps her eyes fixed on the road ahead, and Santana leans her head against the window, casting her gaze on to the streets that they are driving through. She didn't think that she could feel any worse than before, but Quinn's confession has made her feel like she's the worst human being on the planet. She can't even begin to imagine how the blonde must be feeling right now or what she had to go through since the event took place.

Quinn parks her car outside of her apartment fifteen minutes later, which causes Santana to screw up her face in confusion because she doesn't understand why the blonde never dropped her off at her own apartment. She wants to ask Quinn the reasoning behind this, but deep down she knows the answer. If she goes back to her own apartment, Quinn is worried that she'll have a drink to relax. Santana wants to scoff at the unspoken accusation, but decides against it because she knows that if it weren't for the fact that she drank the last of the alcohol in her apartment last night, then she probably would have given into temptation. The lack of self control and self discipline she has disgusts her. Shaking the thoughts out of her head, she silently follows Quinn's lead and gets out of the car whilst wrapping her arms around her body to shield herself from the cold October air that is nipping at her skin.

When they enter the apartment, Quinn immediately excuses herself to go to the bathroom so Santana wanders through into the living room on her own and takes a seat on the couch. She pulls down the comforter that's lying over the back of it, and drapes it over her body, making sure to cover her feet. She has a feeling that she'll be staying on the couch for a while so she wants to at least be comfortable on it. Looking around the room, her gaze stops on the large flat screen television that is hanging on the wall. She internally debates about whether to turn it on or not, but she decides against it when she remembers just how annoyed Quinn gets at Puck whenever he has it on during the day. She doesn't want another reason for the blonde to be angry at her.

Letting out a loud yawn, Santana slouches down even further into the couch and pulls the comforter up to cover her shoulders, keeping it in place with her chin. She can feel her eyelids begin to droop, but she tries to fight against the tiredness. She wants to wait for Quinn to get back so that they can at least talk. Well, that's if the blonde wants to. She can understand if Quinn just wants some time on her own.

Quinn enters the living room a few minutes later and clears her throat awkwardly to make her presence known. She takes a seat next to Santana and runs her fingers through her short blonde hair, showing a clear sign that she's stressed out. "You need to rest, Santana." She says, turning her body so that she's facing the Latina. "It's been a long twenty four hours."

"You need the rest more than I do." Santana tries to joke, but neither of them find it funny. "Do you want to talk about the incident?" She asks quietly, casting her gaze away from her best friend because she doesn't have the strength to look her in the eyes just yet. It's too early for that.

Quinn simply shakes her head in response, a small smile etching onto her face. "We can talk about it after we've both had some rest. I think we're too tired and emotional to have a serious conversation right now, don't you think?"

Santana knows that the woman sitting next to her is right and so she nods her head in agreement. Sleep is probably the best option right now as it will give them both the opportunity to have a rest and clear their minds. She watches as Quinn begins to get up from the couch and she begins to panic. She doesn't want the blonde to go and sleep in her own room. She doesn't want to be alone. She grabs onto Quinn's arm, her eyes silently pleading for her to stay. Luckily, Quinn gets the hint and she sits back down on the couch, which causes Santana to relax. She opens her arms and smiles to herself when the Latina shuffles into them before closing her eyes.

The next time Santana wakes up, it's to hushed voices and she knows that she and Quinn are no longer the only two in the room. Opening her eyes slowly, she finds Puck, Kurt and Rachel all staring at her and she turns her head, burying herself into Quinn's body so that she doesn't have to look at them. Quinn's arms tighten around her body and she relaxes into the touch, and a few seconds later, she feels someone begin to run their fingers gently through her hair. She knows it's Puck, and the feeling of guilt the she had forgotten about for the few hours that she was asleep for, suddenly come flooding back. She doesn't even want to think about the hell she's put him through.

"Thank god you're okay!" Puck mumbles in relief as she presses a kiss to the head of brown hair in front of him. "I've been so worried about you Santana, please promise me that it's never going to happen again." He practically begs, his voice growing thick with emotion. "Please tell me that you're finally going to get some help?"

Santana still can't find the words to speak, but she turns to look at Puck and she instantly regrets it. He's crouched down beside her with unshed tears threatening to fall from his eyes. Reaching out, she grabs his hand in her own and squeezes it softly as a way of telling him that this is never going to happen again. She's never been one to make promises in case she can't keep them, but she knows that despite it being extremely difficult, she will be able to keep this one. She has to. This experience is taught her that she has too much to lose.

Her life is precious and she nearly ended it by being so reckless. It's now time to pick up the pieces and fix it she doesn't know how long it will take, but she's going to do it, no matter how hard it is. She's determined to.

"I'll do whatever it takes to get better." Santana announces weakly, finally breaking her silence. "I'm going to get help Puck, I promise you."

/

When Santana told her friends that she was going to get help, she thought that she would find herself at one of those alcohol awareness classes where she could share her story with other people like her. She kind of liked that idea because she believed that no one there would judge her since they were all pretty much there for the same reason, and so it would be easier to admit and talk about her problem. However, she did not expect Quinn to take matters into her own hands ad book her an appointment with a clinical psychologist a week after the incident had occurred. If she was honest with herself, she hated the idea of talking to a psychologist because it made her sound as if she was some kind of crazy person. She wasn't crazy. She was just sad and lonely, and solved these problems by drinking way too much alcohol. In her opinion, it was nothing more than that. She didn't have to see a psychologist for something so small.

As she walked up to the desk at reception with Quinn on her left and Kurt on her right, she could feel her stomach begin to tie itself in knots. She was nervous because in the next few minutes a complete stranger was going to hear about her life and judge her for it. Even though Kurt had promised her that the psychologist wasn't going to judge her, Santana knew that after they heard about the mess that she calls her life, they wouldn't be able to help themselves. Stopping in front of the desk, the three of them wait patiently for the receptionist to get off the phone. Santana glances at the receptionist and as her gaze travels to the woman's name badge, she almost bursts into a fit of laughter. The badge reads the name: "Sugar" and Santana is convinced that Sugar can't be the receptionist's name because it's so ridiculous.

"Hello there, my friend Santana Lopez has an appointment at seven o'clock with Doctor Rose." Quinn says politely, snapping Santana out of her own thoughts. Even though she won't admit it to either of them, she's glad that Quinn and Kurt are here for support because she would hate to have to go through all of this on her own. "It's her first appointment and when I spoke to Doctor Rose on the phone last week, she said that the session would be free as all they would be doing is filling out the necessary paperwork and talking about what the other sessions would consist of."

"Doctor Rose is currently unavailable as she had to go home due to an unexpected family issue." Sugar the receptionist smiles apologetically before glancing back at her computer screen and typing a few things. "However, our child psychologist is just finishing her last appointment and as Santana's first appointment is only a consultation and paperwork, she is more than qualified to do so and would be more than happy to take Santana's session. That is, of course, if you are comfortable with that arrangement? If not, you can reschedule your appointment with Doctor Rose for next week."

Santana thinks that luck must be on her side today because the information that Sugar has just given her means that she can postpone meeting Doctor Rose for another week. She's just about to open her mouth and tell the receptionist to reschedule her appointment, but before she can, Kurt speaks up.

"We would like to see your child psychologist if that's possible."

As Sugar signs them in and they go and take their seats in the waiting area, Santana secretly glares at Kurt for forcing her to stay and meet another psychologist. She doesn't even want to meet Doctor Rose, so why in her right mind would she want to meet a psychologist who specialises in helping with children? The last time she checked, she wasn't a child and so she doubted that this psychologist would be able to help her out.

"Do you want us to come into the office with you or stay outside?" Quinn asks, trying to make conversation whilst they're waiting. "We're here to support you, Santana, but we'll understand if you want to go in alone."

"You can come in if you want, I don't care." Santana shrugs her shoulders in response because she doesn't know the answer to the question. She wants Quinn and Kurt in the room with her, but she doesn't think that having them there is what is best for her. Her problem is one that she has to fight on her own. Sure she can get support from other people, but ultimately she's the one that has to deal with it.

"Come on, Santana don't start getting defensive now." Quinn sighs, knowing that if Santana is like this during her sessions then the psychologist is going to have a difficult time. "Everyone here is to help and support you, you need to remember that."

Santana rolls her eyes in response and casts her gaze down onto the floor. She knows that Quinn is right, but she isn't going to admit it. The three of them fall back into silence and Santana wishes that the child psychologist would hurry up and get here because she wants this to be over with as soon as possible. It's not that she wants to rush through recovery, she understands that it takes a lot of time and it's not easy. She just doesn't want to be sitting in the waiting area for a psychologist. She doesn't want the other people who are waiting or those that work there to think that she has a problem, because she doesn't. Well, she does, but it's not one that she needs to go a see a psychologist for. She'd leave if it weren't for the fact that Quinn and Puck begged her to try this out. She still doesn't understand why they were so adamant that she did, but she doesn't want to disappoint them more so than she already has.

The sound of a door opening causes Santana to snap her head up and when she does, she spots a woman walking towards the receptionist's desk with her face buried in a folder. She has her back to Santana so she can't see much of her, but she watches as the woman leans against the desk and speaks to Sugar. The woman is quite tall and is wearing a pair of black trousers and a cream and brown coloured jumper, with her long blonde hair tied up in a ponytail. Santana guesses that the woman and Sugar must be friends because a few seconds later, the receptionist begins to laugh as she stands up from her seat and comes out from behind her desk.

Santana's heartbeat begins to increase when Sugar starts to walk over to her and the realisation hits her that the blonde woman must be the child psychologist. She mentally curses herself for wishing for the woman to hurry up because she feels as if she isn't ready for this. Santana glances at the blonde woman who is walking beside Sugar, but she can't see what she looks like because she's still too busy reading something in her folder that she's carrying, which causes her to slow down her pace. She's curious to see what she looks like, even though she doesn't want to talk to her.

"Miss Lopez?" Sugar announces and Santana stands up, taking a step forwards towards the receptionist, her eyes never leaving the blonde woman behind her. "This is..." Sugar's voice fades out of focus as Santana continues to watch as the blonde woman.

It's as if everything is happening in slow motion. She watches as the folder is slowly lowered down from the psychologist's face and when it's gone, Santana thinks she's about to have a heart attack.

This can't be happening.

Someone must be playing a cruel joke on her.

There's no way that this is happening.

"Brittany?"

/

I uploaded this a year ago under a different title, but unfortunately never went anywhere with it. I recently looked back on it though and built upon it and have began writing the next updates for it.

Let me know what you all think!

I have the next update for this already written, so if I get feedback from people saying that they like it then it will be posted fairly quickly.


	2. Chapter 2

The rain falls heavily from the dark grey clouds above, splattering down onto the streets of Los Angeles. From her office window, Brittany Pierce presses her hand up against the glass and watches as the tiny droplets of water run down it with ease. There's something oddly calming about the rain and if Brittany could have it her way then she would stand and watch it for the rest of the day. One of the reasons she loves the fall so much is because of the changing weather, she finds it relaxing and can't think of anything better than sitting at home next to the window reading a book with a cup of coffee while listening to the rain hit the windows. Although she loves the weather, she's glad that she's inside because she would hate to be unfortunate enough to actually be caught in it.

Sighing heavily, Brittany retreats from the window as she knows she can't waste all day staring out of it and goes back to her desk. She's got files and papers that she should be sorting through right now, but she can't bring herself to do it. Today seems to be dragging by and since it's a Friday, all Brittany can think about is finishing work for the week and going home to relax. She feels as if she deserves a break because ever since she saw some of her old friends at the start of the week she hasn't been able to get them out of her mind. When she had been asked to do an extra appointment, the last people she thought she would be helping were the ones from her childhood. She's glad that the consultation was only an introductory one because it meant that she didn't have to do much or get personal information from Santana, which she felt was a good thing because she didn't think it was her place to find out all about her life. Still, all Brittany wants to do now is spend the next couple of days not even thinking about work and instead wants to focus on herself and her home life.

The door of her office opening breaks Brittany out of her thoughts and she looks up to see Doctor Rose entering the room. Just like everyday Doctor Rose has a huge smile on her face and it's as if it's contagious because before Brittany knows it, she's smiling too. She loves being around people at her work who are happy and cheerful because it lifts the mood so much, which is definitely needed in a place like this.

"Hey Marley." She greets as the Doctor comes to a stop in front of her desk and perches on the edge of it. "What's up?"

"I'm tired and hungry." Marley replies, getting straight to the point as she pulls her long brunette locks out of her ponytail and allows them to fall around her face. "My last appointment ran over by half an hour and now I don't have time to walk, get lunch, bring it back and eat it before my next appointment is due."

At the mention of food, Brittany becomes aware that she's hungry too. She gets the hint that Marley wants her to go out in her car and get them food, so she checks the time on the clock and notices that she has an hour and a bit until her next appointment. "Do you want me to do the food run?" She offers, already pushing herself off her seat to stand up. "I'll go to Subway since it's the closest."

"That would be amazing, Brittany! You're a lifesaver!" Marley squeals as she hops off the desk sporting a huge grin. "I'll just have the usual and I'll pay you back as soon as I have cash because I don't think I have any today."

"Don't worry about it." Brittany dismisses with a wave of her hand. "I think I owe you for the last lunch run, so we'll call it even. Go and prepare yourself for your next appointment so that you can enjoy your lunch when I come back with it instead of having to cram it down your throat."

"Good idea." The brunette nods, taking her colleague's advice as she walks towards the door. "I'll see you soon."

Once Marley has left Brittany pulls her jacket over the white shirt and pencil skirt she's wearing and grabs her handbag from the hook it's hanging on. Secretly, she's kind of glad that Marley has asked her to go on the lunch run today because it means that it'll waste at least half an hour of her time. Grabbing her car keys and her office key from her desk, the blonde walks out of her office, locking the door behind her and makes her way down to the reception area. She spots the receptionist Sugar sitting at the reception desk looking bored. Work is always boring when it's quiet like it is today, and most of them find it difficult to entertain themselves. Sugar has it the hardest though because while Brittany can hide in her office and do whatever she wants, Sugar is stuck down in reception where everyone can see her.

"Hey Sugar." She smiles, leaning against the desk on one of her elbows. "You look like you're having an amazing time today."

"I'm not in the mood for your jokes today, Brittany." Sugar says, dramatically rolling her eyes. "It's cold down here and it's way too quiet. I hate it and I'm ready to go home, are you finished for today?"

"Not yet, I finish at four." Brittany answers, excited by the fact that she only has a couple of hours left. "I'm going on a lunch run to Subway for Marley and I, do you want anything?"

"Yes please, I'm so hungry!" The receptionist practically shouts in excitement over the prospect of getting food. "I'll just have the usual."

Brittany nods her head in response and then backs away from the reception desk, in the direction of the building's exit. She's aware that she, Sugar and Marley probably order from Subway far too often and it's something that they should change, but all three of them are far too busy in the mornings to actually prepare lunch for themselves and besides they deserve a treat everyone once in a while. Running through the parking lot and doing her best to shield herself from the rain, Brittany comes to a stop outside of her White Scion FR-S and unlocks the door before hopping inside. She throws her bag down onto the passenger's seat and puts her seatbelt on, and then carefully reverses out of her parking spot, heading in the direction of Subway. The blonde makes the trip to the sandwich shop so often that she thinks that she could probably do it with her eyes closed, or at least without her glasses, which is basically the same thing.

As she's driving, Brittany allows her thoughts to drift to Doctor Rose, or Marley as she's more commonly known as. Marley has been her best friend for eight years and they have stuck by one another through thick and thin. They met when Brittany moved to LA to study psychology and they hit it off straight away, and because of this they progressed through the course together and ended up working at the same place. They even shared an apartment for five years, but they made the difficult decision of living separately when they were both working and making stable incomes so that they could grow into their own people and stop relying on each other so much. However, with that being said, they do still live close to one another and so they often have movie and take out nights together. Brittany loves Marley to pieces and she honestly doesn't know what she would do without a friend like her, she's extremely grateful to have her.

She also feels lucky to have a friend like Sugar in her life because even though they haven't be friends for as long as she and Marley has, the bubbly brunette has fit in well with the two of them. Marley and Brittany met Sugar on their first day at work. Sugar had immediately came over to them and introduced herself and they all hit it off instantly. The two women loved that they had met someone like themselves and so it wasn't hard for them to accept Sugar in the slightest. Brittany loves the fact that they all work together because it makes it far more enjoyable and they always seem to have a good time together. Sugar is always making people laugh and smile and her good mood is contagious, and always makes everyone else feel happy. She doesn't think there's anyone better to work with.

/

Sugar isn't sitting in her usual spot at her desk when Brittany returns from Subway, so the blonde puts her food on the shelf below her desk and then makes her way up the staircase to Marley's office. She's never understood why she and Marley's offices aren't on the same floor because it gets tiring climbing two flights of stairs just to get to each other. On one hand Brittany guesses it could be a good thing because it means that they spend less time distracting each other, but on the other hand she just views it as a huge inconvenience.

When she reaches her best friend's office, Brittany knocks on the door, not wanting to disturb Marley in case she's in an appointment. She doesn't think she should be, but it's very common for them both to get random appointments from some of the people that they help, and so it's always best just to check to make sure. She hears Marley invite her in and so Brittany opens the door and goes inside, closing it behind her with a kick of her foot. Just as she had expected, Marley doesn't have an appointment so the blonde heads over to the desk and places their lunch down onto it before taking a seat in one of the chairs.

"I owe you big time for this, I'm so hungry!" Marley comments as she gratefully takes the bag that her food is in and begins to open it. "What time are you working until today? I'm stuck here until seven."

"Seven o'clock finishes are the worst." Brittany replies sympathetically, knowing how much she hates them especially on a Friday. "At least it's Friday and you have the weekend off. I finish at four because I need to pick Charlotte up."

"Lucky bitch." The brunette grumbles, mirroring her friend's actions and taking a huge bite out of her sub. "Kitty was looking for you earlier by the way, I was too scared to tell her that we were doing another lunch run without her so I lied and said that you had to nip home to get something."

Brittany rolls her eyes at Marley's comment, not understanding why she is so scared of one of the other people they work with and swallows the mouthful of sandwich in her mouth. "I'm in no rush whatsoever to go and see her." She grumbles. "Do you have any idea why she wants to see me?"

"Nope." Marley shakes her head. "She looked pissed though, she was really angry."

"She's always angry." Brittany points out. "I don't think I've seen her smile once in the years that we've worked together."

The bitch, also known as Kitty Wilde is another woman who they work with. However, neither Brittany, Marley or Sugar seem to get along with her. She's rude, stuck up, arrogant and always angry, which is why everyone tends to stay out of her way. Kitty made it apparent when she started working alongside them that she was not there to make friends and instead keeps to herself most of the time, but whenever she does need to speak to one of them it's usually because they've done something to piss her off and she wants to kill them for it.

The two women finish eating their lunch in silence, aware that they don't have much time before they have to go back to work. It's funny that despite seeing each other almost everyday and usually spending the weekends together, they don't get sick of being around one another and always have something to talk about. "What are you doing this weekend?" Brittany questions, shifting around on her seat to get comfortable and crossing one of her legs over the other.

"Uhm, nothing much." Marley hums in thought. "I kind of have a date with Jake, the guy I met at the bar with Sugar a few nights ago."

Brittany frowns at Marley's response, not because she doesn't like that her friend is going on a date with Jake, but because she can hear the hesitation and uncertainty in her voice. It's as if Marley doesn't want to tell her about the date and Brittany is certain that it's because the brunette always feels bad about going out on dates because she feels as if she's leaving Brittany behind. It doesn't matter how many times Brittany insists that she doesn't mind and that she's happy for her best friend, because Marley doesn't listen. Even though Brittany spends most of her time at home or with Charlotte, it doesn't bother her because that's when she's most happy. She just wishes that her best friend would realise that.

"I expect you to call me after it and tell me how it goes." Brittany smiles, deciding that now probably isn't the time to bring up the hesitancy she heard beforehand. "I want all the details."

"Don't worry, I'll call you straight away and give you them." The brunette chuckles. "What are you up to this weekend?"

"Charlotte and I have nothing planned, so I think we'll just have a quiet weekend in the house." She replies, distractedly looking through the calendar on her phone to see if she's missed anything important. "I'm looking forward to just having some time to relax."

"Some time relaxing would be good for you, you seem a bit stressed." Marley states matter of factly. "Is everything okay?"

It's at times like this that Brittany hates the fact that she spends so much time with her best friend because she always manages to pick up on her changing behaviour as soon as it happens. She's been a bit stressed and tense ever since she spotted her old friends in the reception area a couple of days ago, and the feelings haven't gone away since then. "I'm fine." She forces a smile. "You don't need to worry."

There's a knock on the door before Marley gets a chance to reply, so instead of calling her best friend out on lying straight to her face she decides to keep her thoughts to herself. "Come in!" She calls out instead. "It's open."

Brittany turns her head to the door just in time to see Quinn, Santana and Puck all walk into the room and it makes her eyes widen in shock. She had no idea that Santana was Marley's next appointment because if she did, she would have made sure that she was gone before they got here. Not knowing what she should do, the blonde avoids eye contact with the three people and turns back to facing Marley.

"Well..." She coughs, clearing her throat. "I better go so that you can get on with your work."

"Yeah, you better." Marley agrees, clearing up their rubbish and putting it in the bin.. "Not all of us can play with kids for a couple of hours and then go home at four." She jokes, handing Brittany her bag and jacket while standing up from her seat.

"That's rude, I do so much more than that." Brittany jokes back just as playfully, brushing past Quinn, Santana and Puck. She can't bring herself to look at them because she doesn't know how to act around them. She hasn't seen them in years and she doesn't really want to have to explain to Marley how she knows them because her past isn't something she ever really talks about. "I'll try and pop into your office before I leave tonight, but if I don't get the chance to I hope you have a nice date night with Jake."

With that, Brittany leaves the room and practically power walks down the corridor and up the stairs to her office. It isn't until she's actually in her office that Brittany feels as if she can breathe again and so she takes a deep breath and exhales slowly while hanging up her jacket and bag on the hooks behind the door and then going to sit down at her desk. Once she's settled, she glances at the clock on her computer screen and sees that she has an appointment in fifteen minutes. It's her last one of the day so she's excited about getting it out of the way because once it's done it means that she's finished for the weekend.

Brittany loads the file that she needs on the screen of her computer and then leans back to relax in her chair while she waits until she has to go down to the reception area to collect her client. She closes her eyes and does her best to let go and forget everything that she's feeling because she doesn't want anything to get in the way of her work. The blonde knows that she would hate it if she didn't have her full attention on the child she's trying to help just because she was thinking about her own personal problems. She has a time and place to do that and she knows that it's definitely not at work.

The peaceful moment doesn't last long for Brittany because minutes later she hears a knock on the door, which forces her to open her eyes. "Come in!" She calls, leaning forward in her chair and pulling it in closer to the desk. The blonde watches as the door slowly opens and freezes in surprise when she sees Quinn hesitantly walk through the door, closing it behind her and taking a few more steps into the room. She has no idea why she's here but she has a feeling that she's going to find out pretty soon.

"Hi Quinn..." She greets, forcing a smile onto her face. "Can I help you?"

"Ever since we saw you a couple of days ago, none of us have stopped thinking about you Brittany." Quinn states confidently, getting straight to the point. "I know that things didn't exactly go to plan when we all graduated and we lost touch with you, but nobody ever stopped thinking about you."

As Brittany is listening to Quinn's words, she feels completely torn. On one hand she can hear the sincerity in her former friends voice and can tell that she isn't lying about what she's saying, but then on the other hand she was doing fine without them in her life and doesn't think it's a good idea to bring unnecessary drama into it. Her life is already fairly hectic as it is, and although she would love to get back in touch with her old friends, she's aware that she needs to do what's best for everyone. It's a tough situation.

"I don't think that here is a good place to talk about this." She eventually replies quietly, glancing nervously at the clock. She doesn't fully understand why she feels nervous around the other blonde woman, but from as far back as she can remember she's always had that affect on her. "I have my next appointment in fifteen minutes and I can't be running late for it."

"You're right just now probably isn't the best time and I'm sorry for bringing this up at your workplace but I was worried that if I didn't do it now, then I'd lose out on the chance to." She explains, quickening up her pace. "Is there any chance that we can meet up over a cup of coffee so that we can catch up?"

"I don't know Quinn..." Brittany trails off, unsure about the idea. "We met here by chance and if we hadn't of seen each other then we wouldn't be having this conversation now, neither of us actively searched to get back in touch with one another and I can't help but think that me coming back into your life could be a bad thing."

"You're right, we weren't looking for each other but maybe accidentally finding each other was a sign, Brittany." Quinn argues, keeping her voice firm. "Everything is so complicated right now but one thing I know for certain is that I would love to have the opportunity to repair our friendship... please?"

Brittany takes a moment to think over the idea before hesitantly nodding her head. She can see the hopefulness in Quinn's hazel eyes and she can hear the desperateness in her voice too. All Quinn wants with her is friendship and she thinks that she can give her that. It's not as if the other blonde has asked her to do anything for her or has asked for her to come back into her life immediately. All she wants to do is repair a friendship that got broken through years of no communication.

"Okay..." Brittany says, a little bit more excited about the idea of repairing her friendship with the woman standing in front of her. "Where and when do you want to meet up?"

"How about tonight at seven?" Quinn suggests, a smile of relief planted firmly on her face. "We could meet up at the small café Ruben's?"

Brittany mentally checks her plans for tonight and realises that she is free for a few hours, and so she nods her head. She knows that she can spend a few hours with Quinn in a café because they both have so much catching up to do. A couple of hours will probably only be enough time to scrape the surface of their lives now, but she thinks it will be good to see how far Quinn has come since high school.

"That's fine with me." Brittany returns her smile. "I will only be able to stay for a couple of hours though."

/

At quarter to four Brittany finds herself running through the reception area of her work and out of the building towards her car so that she can go and pick up Charlotte. She doesn't want to be late picking her up again, and so she throws her stuff in the back of her car before beginning to drive to her destination. She's thankful that where she lives isn't always really busy and is glad that there isn't much traffic blocking her way.

It doesn't take long for Brittany to arrive at her destination, and ten minutes later she finds herself parked outside of the local school. Getting out of her car and locking the door behind her, Brittany walks as fast as she can in her heeled boots into the playground and begins to search in the sea of children for Charlotte. She quickly spots a head of golden blonde hair amidst the group of eight year olds and finds Charlotte standing there with her backpack slung over her shoulder and her light blue eyes darting around the surrounding area in search for her. When they eventually lock eyes with one another, the child immediately runs in the direction of Brittany and runs into her awaiting arms for a hug.

"I told you I wouldn't be late!" Brittany practically sings as she pulls out of the hug and takes the child's hand in her own, guiding her towards the car. "I got here just on time."

"You were nearly late." Charlotte replies matter of factly, coming to a stop in front of the car. She patiently waits for Brittany to unlock it and then hops into it, throwing her backpack into the back and then putting her seatbelt on. "I was getting bored waiting on you."

"I'm sorry, work was super busy today." She apologises, starting up the car and pulling away from the school. "How was school?"

"It was okay." The young girl shrugs, distracted by something out of the window. "I'm glad it's over because now I get to relax for the weekend with Odie."

Brittany can't help but smile at Charlotte's words, loving the fact that she gets along well with her pug, Odie. The two of them have an amazing bond and despite the fact that she doesn't particularly understand it completely, she's glad that the youngster has something that keeps her happy. "I'm sure Odie will be looking forward to that." She chuckles in response. "Remember you're going out to dinner with your parents and social worker tonight, so you can't officially start relaxing and doing nothing until tomorrow."

As soon as the words are out of her mouth, Brittany can feel the atmosphere in the car become slightly more tense, and she kind of regrets bringing the topic of visiting her parents up so quickly. "Do I have to go? It's never any fun." Charlotte pouts, crossing her arms over her chest in protest. "I want to stay at home with you."

"Yes you have to go." Brittany replies as firmly as she can, leaving no room for an argument or debate. "It's only for a couple of hours, and you know that it's important that you spend time with them."

Charlotte simply huffs in response and allows the silence to fill the air. Brittany knows that as soon as they reach home and Charlotte is reunited with Odie that her mood will change into a much happier one, so she decides to avoid an argument by leaving her to sulk for a little longer. Brittany is positive that she knows Charlotte better than anyone else, which is what makes them such a good pair. She enjoys caring for the girl, even though it can sometimes be stressful.

However, Brittany knew when she applied to be able to foster children that it would never be easy and so whenever she has to deal with one of Charlotte's bad moods she always reminds herself of that fact. She and Charlotte met three years ago when her social worker brought her to Brittany for some help and support. At first it was difficult to form any sort of bond with the girl or even get her to speak, but after months of persistence and perseverance, the two of them eventually struck up an unlikely friendship. To this day, Brittany doesn't know how it happened or why she allowed herself to get involved in Charlotte's life, but for whatever reason it happened and she applied to become a foster parent which in turn then allowed her to foster Charlotte. Now, they've been living together for almost a year and Brittany can honestly say it's been one of the best years of her life. She wouldn't change it for the world.

When they arrive home, both Brittany and Charlotte are greeted by Odie the black pug who immediately jumps up at the younger blonde and begins to lick her face. Just like Brittany had predicted, Charlotte seems to already be in a better mood and so she leaves the pair of them to play for a while whilst she goes through to the kitchen to get a drink of water. It's usually what happens everyday when they get home.

The three bedroomed house that Brittany owns used to seem way too big for a single woman in her mid-twenties, but now that she has Charlotte living with her, Brittany thinks that it's probably just about the right size. Sometimes it can be overwhelming since there's so much to be taken care of, but the blonde knows for a fact that she wouldn't change it for the world. It's a simplistic and modern home with minimalist furniture and although it doesn't radiate the home-y vibe that most houses do, it suits Brittany and Charlotte well.

With her glass of water in her hand, Brittany makes her way back through to the living room and finds Charlotte now sitting at the table doing her homework. One thing that Brittany prides herself with is that with a little bit of co-operation from Charlotte, she was able to get the young blonde into a routine that she sticks to almost everyday. It starts from when she comes home from school and for the first hour of that she has to do any homework she has while Brittany makes their dinner, then once she's finished she goes upstairs to get cleaned up for dinner, and after eating it she's free to do what she wants until half past seven when it's time for her shower. It was one of the first things that was established when Charlotte moved into her home because it allowed Brittany to make sure that Charlotte was getting cared for properly and that she had enough time to do her homework and also have time to herself. Now it's just something they stick to for an easy life.

"Hey Britt, can you help me?" Charlotte calls from over her shoulder, breaking the blonde out of her thoughts. "It's math and I hate it."

"Of course I can help!" Brittany responds cheerfully, making her way over to the table and pulling a chair over so that she can sit next to the girl. "What are you stuck with?"

As Charlotte begins to explain what the problem is, Brittany's eyes skim over the questions so that she can see what she's working with. She's positive that she'll have no problem with an eight year olds math homework, especially since she's some kind of math genius. Brittany allows her thoughts to travel back to her past and she thinks about her brief time at MIT. Although it was fun, a career in math was not for her and she finds it so weird that if she had never of left there then she would never have became a child psychologist or met Charlotte or anything like that.

She guesses that everything happens for a reason.

/

Brittany finds herself walking into Ruben's Cafe shortly after quarter past seven, and as soon as she sees Quinn sitting at a table on her own she instantly feels bad for running late. She had no intention of showing up at this time, but when she had tried to get Charlotte to go with her social worker to go and have dinner with her parents, she threw a full blown tantrum and so she had to spend time trying to calm her down and convince her to go. The tantrum lasted for around twenty minutes and with the added time of calming Charlotte down, it ended up taking just a little bit longer than half an hour to get the child out the door and into the car.

"I'm so sorry for being late." Brittany exclaims as she slips into the opposite side of the booth from Quinn, and runs one of her hands through her long blonde hair in exasperation. "Something unexpected came up just before I was about to leave."

"Don't worry about it, I've not been waiting long." Quinn waves her hand dismissively, chuckling at the sight in front of her. "How was the rest of your day at work?"

"It was okay, as good as work gets I guess." She answers with a small shrug. "How was your day?"

"Pretty uneventful if I'm honest." Quinn replies as she flags down one of the waitresses to take their order. Both of them order a white coffee along with a blueberry muffin and then the waitress disappears to get it for them, leaving them alone. "I work as a photographer so I was working this morning, and then after that I went with Santana to her appointment."

The two of them settle into silence after that and Brittany can't help but think about how she saw Santana at her workplace. She has no idea why the Latina is there or what she's getting help for, but she does genuinely hope that she'll be able to fix whatever problem she's having. The silence is interrupted fairly quickly by the waitress bringing over their drinks and food, and they both thank the young girl before taking a tentative sip out their cups, being careful not to burn their mouths on the hot liquid.

"It really is good to see you Brittany." Quinn speaks her thoughts out loud, striking up conversation again. "I meant every word of what I said in your office, I haven't stopped thinking about you since I saw you a few days ago, and I'm extremely grateful that you agreed to meet for coffee."

The words make Brittany blush a little bit, but they also make her want to be honest with the woman in front of her too. "It's really good to see you as well." She speaks, placing her cup of coffee back down onto the table. "I never stopped thinking about everyone either, it's been like a whirlwind in my mind since the first time I saw you all."

"I just can't believe we met again." Quinn comments, a hint of disbelief in her voice. "Especially under the circumstances, I mean who would have thought that we'd be running into you?"

"Yeah, the circumstances were definitely strange." Brittany chuckles while nodding her head in agreement. "I have to admit, the last people I thought were going to walk through those doors would be any of you."

"Truthfully I never thought I'd find myself there, even if it was to support someone else." She admits quietly, followed closely by a sigh. "You handled the situation really well, you know? I could tell that you were obviously surprised by the whole situation, but you remained so professional."

"I was just doing my job." The blonde defends, downplaying her actions with a tight lipped smile. "She's in good hands with Doctor Rose now, personally I think she's the best clinical psychologist in there."

"I'm just glad she's finally getting the help she needs."

"She's in the best possible place for it." Brittany reassures her friend. "I know for a fact that Marley will do everything within her power to help her. She genuinely cares about the people she helps, so much so that sometimes when I call her on the weekends, she's actually in the office working."

"Oh, so you're friends with her outside of work?" Quinn questions curiously, to which Brittany nods her head in conformation. "Has she told you about Santana's case?"

Brittany can sense the protectiveness in Quinn's voice and although she should find it intimidating, she actually finds it quite cute. She's always known how protective Quinn and Santana have been over each other and she loves the fact that it's continued on through to their adult lives. "No she hasn't told me anything." Brittany answers as she begins to pick at her blueberry muffin. "We strictly keep our work lives separated from our private ones and don't speak about individual cases to anyone, all I know is what I was told when I held the introductory meeting, which was nothing as you know."

"So you haven't asked Doctor Rose what's going on?" Quinn seems more relaxed, but the curiosity is evident in her eyes. Brittany shakes her head, indicating that she hasn't as she pops a part of the muffin into her mouth. "Wow, there's no way I could do that if I were in your position."

"It's not my business to know." Brittany says, feeling the need to justify her actions. "Of course I'm curious, but I keep telling myself that if she wanted me to know about it, then she would have contacted me directly by now."

"Santana does want to get back into contact with you, she even wanted to come with me to speak to you tonight." Quinn admits, looking somewhat guilty. "She hasn't stopped thinking or talking about you since she saw you again, but she's scared that you don't want anything to do with her."

Although she understands what Quinn means, Brittany can't help but feel a little bit hurt by her words. She's been aware for a while now that because of her job, wealth and the fact that she looks after an eight year old child at such a young age, that many people perceive her to be posh and think that she's better than everyone else. However, she never thought that Santana would think that about her. She had never meant to lose contact with Santana throughout the years, but it happened and it was one of her biggest regrets. She wants something to do with the Latina, but her life isn't as simple as it was nine years ago, which is what makes her so hesitant.

"It's not that I don't want anything to do with her..." Brittany eventually starts, choosing her words carefully. "It's just that my life is a lot more complicated than it was nine years ago."

"I understand that." Quinn replies sympathetically. "You would be willing to get back in contact with her though?"

"Of course I would, if she wanted to meet up with us for a cup of coffee then I wouldn't have a problem with it." She declares because she thinks that having a cup of coffee with an old friend is completely harmless, and it doesn't have to mean anything at all. "I would just need to know in advance."

"Great!" The shorter haired blonde beams. "She'll be so excited to hear that."

Their conversation is cut short when Brittany hears her phone beginning to ring and so she pulls it out of her purse and checks the screen to see who it is. The only person she could imagine calling her is Marley, but since she's supposed to be going out tonight she wasn't expecting a call until much later. Her eyes widen in surprise when the name of Charlotte's social worker flashes across the screen and then she frowns, not fully understanding why she'd be phoning so soon. She quickly apologises to Quinn, explaining that she needs to take the call before tapping the accept button and placing the phone up to her ear.

"Hello?"

"Hello Brittany, it's Ellie."

"Hey Ellie, is everything okay?"

"Not exactly... I was wondering if you could come and pick up Charlotte. She's not settling tonight and has expressed nothing but the desire to go home. We've tried calming her down, but she keeps making herself more upset."

The news that Charlotte isn't settling into dinner makes Brittany sigh in disappointment. It's not because it means that she's going to have to cut her night short so that she can go and get her, in fact she would much rather be at home making sure that the little girl is okay. The reason that she's sighing is because she's disappointed that Charlotte still finds it difficult to connect with her family. She can't imagine how hard it must be for her.

"I'll come and pick her up just now, Ellie."

"I'm sorry I had to call you earlier than we planned."

"You don't need to apologise, it's okay. I'm just leaving just now."

With that, Brittany ends the call and drops her phone back into her purse before turning her attention to Quinn so that she can explain what's going on. She's sure that since Quinn heard her side of the conversation that she has a vague idea of what's going on, but she feels as if she should probably fill her in a little bit more. "I'm so sorry, but I need to go." She apologises. "I'll give you my number so that we can reschedule because I would love to spend more time catching up with you."

"Don't worry about it." Quinn replies dismissively, throwing some money down onto the table to pay for their coffee and food. "We can reschedule and next time, you can pay for the coffee."

The two of them pull their jackets back on and pick up their bags before leaving the café. Once they're in the parking lot, they say goodbye to each other and go their separate ways to their cars and get inside of them. Luckily for Brittany the restaurant that she needs to get to isn't that far away from the café and so she reverses out of the parking space and begins to head in that direction. All she can think about as she's driving is that she wants to get there as quickly as possible because she doesn't want Charlotte being in a situation that she's not comfortable in. She loves the girl and would do anything to protect her, and she kind of feels guilty for making her go tonight because after all, the eight year old had told her that she didn't want to go in the first place.

It takes Brittany just under ten minutes to arrive at the restaurant and as she pulls up outside of it, she spots Ellie and Charlotte standing outside of it. Charlotte has her arms crossed protectively over her chest, a clear sign that she's not happy at all, and Ellie looks as if she's about to collapse from exhaustion. As soon as Brittany gets out of the car, Charlotte's eyes lock with hers and the little girl sprints over to her, throwing herself into Brittany's awaiting arms. Brittany bends down so that she's level with her and then pulls her as closely as she can into her body, protecting her from everything around her.

"It's okay, I'm here now." She whispers in Charlotte's ear. "I'm sorry for making you go."

"I'm glad you came and got me." Charlotte whispers back. "I didn't like being there on my own."

"I promise you next time I'll come." Brittany promises, her voice full of emotion. "You don't have to do this on your own."

/

Like I promised... the second update is up quickly! Thank you for the reviews, they do mean a lot!  
I would also just like to stress that this fic will not be like Room 47, Brittany is a child psychologist so she won't be the one helping Santana out in that way.

This update is kind of just setting the scene in Brittany's life, and the next update will definitely have Brittana interaction in it.

Let me know what you all think!


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